Lourdes Casanova, academic director of the Emerging Markets Institute at Cornell University, says that the APEC meeting this week has become more relevant in the current anti-globalization climate, but also cautions people that free trade deals will take time.
Bio: https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/Faculty-And-Research/Profile/id/lc683
Casanova says:
“Discussions initiated at the APEC summit in Beijing two years ago about the establishment of an Asia-Pacific Free Trade Zone (FTZ) with all the APEC members will be a substantial part of the program. China, who felt excluded from the original TPP agreement, is determined to push forward its agenda and start negotiations at this summit.
“This Free Trade Zone would be very different than the Trans Pacific Partnership, which seems to be on hold.
“It is ironic that the current anti-globalization climate in the West has encouraged China to be champion of free trade.
“That said, trade agreements take a long time. They are very complex to negotiate and take even more time to implement. Much can happen both in Asia and the West, we should not be holding our breath.”
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews.
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